1465 
6-356 


Gibbs 
Some  Points  in  choosing  Textiles 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS    BULLETIN 


VOL.  X. 


Nov.  25,  1912 


No.  13 


[Entered  February  14.  1902.  at  Urbana,  Illinois,  as  second-class  matter 
under  Act  of  Congress  of  July  16,  1894.] 


Department  of  Household  Science 


Some  Points  in  Choosing 
Textiles 


277 


By 


Charlotte  M.  Gibbs,  M.  A. 


AT 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 

1'^BLISiIED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY 
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


8.1T4A 


TS 


SOME  POINTS  IN  CHOOSING  TEXTILES 

2  7  ?¥*f 

In  the  past  century  a  greal  change  has  come  about  in 
the  position  of  the  woman  in  the  home,  which  has  very  vi- 
tally affected  her  relation  to  the  textile  industries.  In  the 
early  days  in  this  country  nearly  every  woman  produced 
the  clothing  for  herself  and  family,  also  the  household  linens 
from  the  raising  of  the  sheep  or  flax  to  the  finished 
product.  Now  all  is  changed;  with  the  introduction  erf 
ready-made  suits  and  other  garments,  even  the  sewing  is 
rapidly  going  from  Ihe  home,  while  the  manufacture  of 
cloth  is  a  forgotten  art. 

In  olden  times  the  quality  of  home-spun  and  woven 
material  was  the  best  possible  to  be  obtained  from  the  ma- 
terials and  methods  known.  Woolen  cloth  was  all  wool, 
and  linen  cloth  was  not  adulterated  with  starch,  or  half 
cotton.  Honest  and  durable  materials  were  the  rule  of  the 
day. 

With  the  introduction  of  machinery  and  the  factory  sys- 
tem came  keen  competition.  Modern  discoveries,  chemical 
and  otherwise,  have  increased  the  possibilities  of  cotton, 
linen,  silk  and  wool  so  that  now  it  is  difficult  to  recognize 
the  original  fiber  in  some  of  the  materials  sold. 

Thus  on  the  one  hand  the  field  of  textile  knowledge  has 
grown  very  much,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  knowledge 
of  women  concerning  textile  fabrics  has  decreased,  since 
they  are  no  longer  the  makers  of  cloth,  nor  do  they  always 
gain  a  knowledge  of  its  characteristics  through  the  making 
of  garments.  The  result  has  been  that  women  depend 
more  and  more  on  the  word  of  clerks,  who  are  often  as 
ignorant  as  themselves,  until  by  painful  experience  the 
buyers  learn  some  of  the  things  to  be  avoided. 

As  cost  of  living  increases,  and  demands  upon  the 
family  purse  increase,  it  is  more  and  more  important  that 
the  woman  of  the  household  should  know  how  to  spend  the 
family  income  most  economically.  Since  from  ten  to 

3 


twenty  percent  of  this  income  is  spent  for  clothing  and  house 
furnishing,  it  is  imperative  that  more  thought  and  careful 
study  should  be  put  upon  this  branch  of  household  economy. 
The  object  of  this  bulletin  is  to  give  some  bits  of  informa- 
tion about  textile  fibers,  their  manufacture  and  adulteration, 
which  may  help  in  gaining  that  judgment  in  buying  essen- 
tial to  every  woman. 

Certain  adulterations  and  devices  of  the  modern  man- 
ufacturer are  so  skillfully  concealed  as  to  be  detected  only 
by  the  use  of  chemical  tests,  or  the  high  power  microscope. 
With  these  this  bulletin  will  not  deal,  but  only  with  those 
qualities  and  adulterations  which  maybe  detected  without 
the  aid  of  laboratory  equipment.  Much  of  course  may  be 
learned  by  experience,  but  it  seems  better  to  save  time  and 
money  by  knowing  beforehand  what  is  to  be  demanded, 
what  guarded  against. 

Each  one  of  the  common  materials  used  for  textile 
fabrics,  cotton,  linen,  wool  and  silk,  has  its  characteristics, 
each  its  definite  uses.  Certain  peculiarities  in  physical  or 
chemical  nature  make  each  fiber  peculiarly  adapted  to 
certain  nses,  but  so  long  as  these  general  qualities  are  main- 
tained the  variety  of  materials  produced  from  these  fibers 
may  be  enormous.  Combinations  of  fibers  in  one  material, 
adulteration  with  cheaper  fibers,  or  with  starches  or  metallic 
salts,  may  serve  to  reduce  the  cost,  and  yet  the  purpose  of 
the  material  may  be  fulfilled.  For  certain  purposes  the 
materials  may  be  used  inlerchangeably. 

COTTON 

Cotton  is  cheap  and  very  plentiful.  It  has  short,  flat 
fibers,  with  a  spiral  twist,  thus  giving  elasticity  and  the 
possibility  of  being  spun  into  fine  thread.  Being  in  t  itself 
very  useful  and  inexpensive  and  capable  of  replacing,  to  a 
certain  extent,  any  other  fiber,  it  is  used  in  very  large  quan- 
tities the  world  over,  and  is  manufactured  into  a  great 
variety  of  materials.  The  quality  of  these  materials  depends 
on  the  strength  of  the  fibers,  the  fineness  or  coarseness  of 
material,  the  weave,  the  color  and  design,  and  the  adultera- 
tions. 


Cotton,  being  cheapest,  is  not  adulterated  with  any  of 
the  other  fibers  mentioned,  when  the  material  is  to  be  sold 
as  cotton  cloth,  but  it  can  be  made  to  appear  heavier  by  the 
addition  of  mixtures  called  sizing.  Starches,  gums,  dextrine, 
glue,  china  clay,  as  well  as  other  ingredients  in  varying  pro- 
portions, constitute  this  sizing  which  may  add  a  large  per- 
cent to  the  weight  of  the  cloth.  The  spaces  between  the 
threads  are  filled  up  and  a  good  finish'is  given  to  the  cloth, 
although  the  wearing  quality  is  not  increased.  If  present 
in  large  quantities  the  cloth  is  greatly  reduced  in  weight  and 
firmness  after  the  first  washing. 

Adulterations  of  this  kind  can  be  detected  by  the  feeling, 
a  large  quantity  imparting  a  harshness  to  the  material.  In 
very  thin  fabrics  the  sizing  may  often  be  detected  by  hold- 
ing the  cloth  up  to  the  light  when  the  starch  shows  between 
the  threads.  Washing  or  thorough  boiling  of  a  sample 
will  show  the  amount  of  sizing  present. 

Another  method  of  adulterating  cotton  is  shown  in 
certain  kinds  of  dotted  swiss.  A  good  swiss  has  thread 
dots  woven  or  embroidered  in  the  cloth.  Fig.  1A  shows  a 
piece  of  material  sold  at  the  price  of  a  good  swiss,  but  in 
this  case  the  dots  are  merely  a  heavy  paste,  printed  on  the 
cloth.  Fig.  IB  shows  the  result  of  continued  washing, 
where  the  dots  have  disappeared,  and  Fig.  1C,  the  result  of 
ironing  with  a  hot  iron,  which  turned  the  spots  brown  be- 
fore the  cloth  itself  is  harmed. 

Mercerized  cotton  is  a  cloth  produced  by  the  action  of  a 
strong  alkali  on  cotton  fiber  rinsed  under  tension.  It  is  a 
strong,  attractive  material,  with  good  wearing  qualities.  An 
imitation  of  this  may  be  made  by  the  action  of  very  heavy 
and  very  hot  cylinders  on  ordinary  cotton  cloth.  The 
mercerized  cloth  has  a  high  luster  which  it  retains  after 
many  washings  while  the  imitation  loses  its  luster  with  the 
first  washing. 

Sometimes  cotton  cloth  which  has  been  on  the  market 
for  some  time  is  weakened  by  the  action  of  the  chemicals 
used  in  bleaching,  dyeing  or  in  the  sizing.  This  may  be 
easily  detected  by  tearing  the  cloth. 

Standard  cotton  materials  such  as  muslins,  organdies, 
percales,  calicoes  and  sheeting,  differ  only  in  the  weight  of 


6 

the  material,  fineness  of  thread,  hardness  of  twist  and  method 
of  finish.  Ginghams  have  the  thread  dyed  before  weaving 
and  fancy  weaves  are  frequently  used.  Duck,  denim  and 
some  other  heavy  materials  have  very  hard  twisted  threads 
and  are  frequently  woven  with  a  twill.  Silkolene  is  a  trade 
name  for  a  fine  cotton  cloth  with  a  silky  finish  given  after 
the  cloth  is  woven. 

Mercerized  cottons  make  lustrous  materials  as  poplin, 
imitation  pongee  and  numerous  attractive  house  furnishing 
materials. 

India  "linon"  is  entirely  cotton,  with  a  fleecy  surface  on 
the  wrong  side,  as  is  "outing  flannel"  and  "canton  flannel". 

Many  "tussahs,"  "voiles"  and  "economy  linens"  and 
other  materials  with  rather  deceptive  names  are  cotton 
materials  made  to  imitate  silk,  wool  or  linen. 

LINEN 

Linen  was  formerly  the  most  important  vegetable  fiber, 
and  was  commonly  used  for  all  household  purposes.  Of  late 
years  it  has  been  largely  replaced  by  cotton  with  which  it 
may  be  compared  although  there  are  still  uses  for  which  we 
demand  linen,  and  others  for  which  we  prefer  linen  to  cot- 
ton. 

The  linen  fiber  is  long,  smooth  and  quite  lustrous,  when 
spun  into  a  thread.  It  is  very  strong  arid  there  are  not  so 
many  fuzzy  ends  as  are  found  in  cotton.  Cloth  made  from 
it  is  not  only  lustrous  and  rich  looking,  but  because  of  its 
smoothness  stays  clean  longer  than  cotton.  The  snowy 
whiteness  of  linen  obtained  with  some  difficulty  in  bleach- 
ing is  quite  permanent,  and  since  the  fiber  takes  dyes  with 
difficulty  and  parts  with  them  quite  readily,  it  also  does  not 
retain  stains  as  persistently  as  cotton  does. 

Linen  is  much  more  expensive  than  cotton,  and  when 
linen  prices  are  paid  linen  should  be  demanded.  Since  the 
two  fibers  are  rather  hard  to  distinguish,  especially  when 
heavily  starched  and  given  a  good  finish,  it  is  quite  easy  to 
deceive  the  buyer.  "Linen"  collars  are  frequently  largely 
cotton,  "linen"  handkerchiefs  may  not  have  a  thread  of 
linen,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case  with  rather  inexpensive  em- 


8 

broidered  handkerchiefs,  and  table  "linen"  may  be  merceriz- 
ed cotton,  cotton  and  linen,  or  even  ordinary  cotton. 

To  distinguish  linen  from  cotton,  examine  the  threads 
carefully;  cotton  is  made  up  of  short  libers  which  project 
from  the  surface  of  the  thread,  and  become  fuzzy  when  the 
thread  is  rubbed  between  the  fingers;  when  broken,  cotton 
has  a  tufted  end,  while  the  linen  fibers  break  more  unevenly 
and  leave  a  more  pointed  end.  The  linen  thread  should  be 
stronger  than  Ihe  cotton;  it  has  more  luster  and  is  usually 
more  uneven.  Some  kinds  of  linen  have  flat  threads,  but 
cotton  is  frequently  finished  in  imitation  of  flat  thread  linen. 

The  old  test  of  moistening  the  finger  and  putting  it  un- 
der the  cloth  is  not  always  a  sure  one,  as  the  moisture  will 
not  come  through  a  heavy  linen,  or  one  with  much  starch 
in  it,  and  it  will  come  through  a  sheer,  tightly  twisted  cot- 
ton. A  better  test  is  to  put  a  drop  of  olive  oil  on  the  cloth 
and  press  between  blotting  papers.  The  linen  becomes  more 
transparent  than  the  cotton. 

There  is  a  peculiar  leathery  feel  about  good  table  linen, 
which  cotton  will  riot  give,  and  the  luster  is  different 
although  the  difference  is  hard  to  describe. 

The  typical  weaves  used  for  linens  are  as  follows.  The 
damask,  satin  or  sateen  weave  used  for  table  linens  and 
towels  is  especially  good  for  the  former  because  of  the  very 
smooth  lustrous  surface  it  affords,  but  not  so  good  for  towels 
as  it  does  not  absorb  moisture  very  readily,  although  it 
is  very  attractive.  Huck,  an  uneven  weave,  giving  a  good 
surface  for  the  absorption  of  water,  makes  splendid  towels, 
and  decorated  with  designs  in  damask  weave  may  be  very 
handsome.  Many  linens  in  plain  weaves  are  available  for 
clothing,  embroidery,  etc.,  while  the  coarse  Russian  crashes 
are  becoming  quite  popular  for  decorative  purposes. 

The  texture  of  linen  is  such  that  the  heavier  kinds  hang 
well  in  folds,  lie  flat  on  a  table,  and  are  very  artistic  for 
many  purposes. 

WOOL 

Wool,  the  second  fiber  in  amount  used  for  clothing,  is 
an  animal  fiber  and  differs  greatly  from  the  vegetable  fibers 
discussed.  Wool  from  the  sheep's  back  differs  from  hair 


of  goats  or  other  animals  in  several  ways.  Wool  is  very 
curlv,  and  possesses  a  scaly  structure  in  a  much  more 
marked  degree  than  hair,  in  which  the  external  scales 
lie  flat.  The  surface  of  wool  has  sometimes  been  compared 
to  a  pine  cone,  or  the  scales  of  a  fish,  although  these  two 
are  quite  different.  The  scales  on  the  wool  fiber  when 
moisl  and  warm  stand  up,  more  as  the  pine  cone,  and  when 
cold  and  dry  or  cold  arid  moist,  lie  flat.  This  peculiar 
structure  of  the  surface  of  the  wool  fibers  gives  them  the 
property  of  felting,  or  matting  very  closely  together.  Wool 
is  also  quite  elastic,  although  it  has  not  great  strength. 

Since  the  demand  for  woolen  cloth  far  exceeds  the  sup- 
ply of  new  wool  there  are  many  devices  for  making  the 
supply  go  a  long  way,  and  consequently  many  methods  1'or 
deceiving  the  buyer.  In  adulterating  a  material  the  manu- 
facturer seeks  a  material  cheaper  than  Ihe  fiber  he  wishes 
to  adulterate,  one  which  can  be  concealed  readily.  Wool 
when  combined  with  the  cheaper  cotton  fiber  makes  a  mate- 
rial which  wears  well,  but  does  not  keep  ils  shape  as  well 
as  all-wool  cloth,  is  less  warm,  and  should  of  course  receive 
a  lower  price  than  all-wool. 

Because  of  the  felting  property  of  wool  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible to  conceal  a  good  deal  of  cotton  under  the  surface  of 
the  woolen  cloth,  and  when  the  fibers  are  mixed  before  the 
threads  are  spun  the  task  of  detecting  them  becomes  doubly 
difficult. 

WOOLENS   AND    WORSTEDS 

Two  classes  of  cloth  are  manufactured  from  wool. 
Woolens  are  made  usually  of  short  wool  carded  and  spun 
into  yarn  in  which  the  threads  lie  in  all  directions.  This  is 
woven  into  cloth  which  usually  has  the  surface  heavily 
felted,  so  that  all  of  the  intersections  of  threads  in  weaving 
are  covered.  Here  then  is  splendid  opportunity  ior  adulter- 
ation, since  cotton  or  poor  wool  may  be  covered  up  by  Ihc 
surface  felling. 

WORSTED 
The  other  class  is  made  from  longer  staple  wool,  comb- 


10 


A 


6 


D 


PIG.  2 


11 

ed,  and  drawn  until  the  fibers  are  parallel,  then  hard  twist- 
ed. When  woven  the  ends  of  the  threads  do  not  project  on 
the  surface,  and  the  finish  is  not  i  ntended  to  cover  the  weave, 
hence  it  is  more  difficult  to  adulterate  unless  entire  cotton 
threads  were  woven  with  the  worsted,  and  these  are  more 
easily  delected  than  a  mixture  of  cotton  and  wool,  or  shoddy 
in  woolen  cloth.  Common  examples  of  woolens  are  flannels, 
broadcloth  and  Venetian  cloth;  of  worsteds,  serge,  challie, 
men's  suitings  and  voile.  Mohair  is  a  worsted  cloth  woven 
of  the  wool  of  the  Angora  goat,  with  a  warp  usually  of  cot- 
ton or  silk. 

The  most  reliable  tests  for  a  mixture  of  cotton  and  wool 
are  chemical  or  microscopic  ones,  but  as  these  are  not  prac- 
tical for  the  average  buyer,  others  must  be  sought.  Wool 
has  luster  and  "kinks;"  the  ends  of  the  threads  are  stiff 
and  look  rather  wiry.  When  a  sample  is  carried  home, 
burning  will  serve  to  distinguish  between  the  two.  Wool 
burns  slowly,  chars,  has  an  odor  of  burnt  feather,  goes  out 
easily  and  leaves  a  crisp  ash;  cotton  burns  quickly  with  a 
flame,  with  little  odor  and  leaves  no  ash. 

A  little  practice  in  breaking  the  threads  will  help  one  to 
distinguish  between  the  two;  the  difference  is  not  one  that 
can  be  easily  explained,  but  the  experienced  housewife 
knows  it  well. 

Fig.  2A  shows  a  sample  of  all-wool  cloth,  of  the  class 
of  worsteds  which  cost  seventy-five  cents  a  yard.  Fig.  2B 
shows  a  sample  of  cloth  of  the  same  price,  called  by  the 
clerk,  all-wool,  but  which  on  examination  was  found  to 
have  only  four  threads  of  wool  to  every  twelve  threads  of 
cotton.  Fig.  2G  shows  this  same  cloth  with  the  wool  re- 
moved by  strong  alkali,  caustic  potash,  leaving  the  cotton. 
Fig.  2D  shows  the  wool  left  when  the  cotton  has  been  rav- 
elled out,  or  has  been  removed  by  a  strong  acid  solution. 

Fig.  3  shows  a  sample  of  mohair  in  which  the  wool  has 
been  partly  removed,  and  the  cotton  warp  is  left.  In  this 
case  the  price  is  not  high,  and  because  of  the  character  of 
the  cloth  the  mixture  is  a  good  one,  light,  smooth,  and  clean. 
This  cloth  is  not  sold  for  all-wool,  so  is  not  considered  adul- 
terated. 


12 

As  has  been  said  before,  the  demand  for  woolen  goods  is 
so  much  greater  than  the  supply  that  it  is  necessary  to  re- 
sort to  various  measures  to  increase  the  supply  of  cloth. 
One  method  is  to  use  the  wool  over  and  over  again.  Rags 
are  bought  up  by  the  rag  man,  sold  to  the  larger  dealer, 
again  to  the  "shoddy"  manufacturer  who  cleans  them,  sorts 


PIG.  3 
SHODDY 

them,  tears  Ihem  to  pieces,  using  the  best  all-wool  rags  to 
produce  fibers,  which  are  respun  and  again  woven  .either 
separately,  if  of  very  good  quality,  or  mixed  with  new  wool 
or  cotton.  Such  a  material  is  warm,  looks  well  for  a  time 
and  has  its  place,  but  must  not  be  bought  for  new  wool,  or 
demand  the  price  of  good  woolen  cloth.  This  industry  is 
enormous  and  shoddy  is  often  found  in  expensive  novelty 
materials  as  well  as  in  cheap  "all-wool"  cloth.  Because  of 
the  shortness  of  the  fibers  it  may  be  detected  readily,  when 
used  alone,  but  in  combination  with  good  wool  it  is  more 
difficult. 


13 

One  class  of  shoddy  consists  of  very  short  fibers,  clip- 
pings from  the  mills,  which  are  worked  into  the  surface  of 
a  felled  cloth  after  it  is  woven.  These  short  fibers  after  a 
time  work  out,  and  are  found  in  the  bottoms  of  coats,  in- 
side the  linings,  etc.,  leaving  the  surface  of  the  cloth  thread- 
bare. 

Fig.  4  shows  a  piece  of  shoddy  cloth,  sold  for  all  wool 
at  fifty  cents  a  yard.  This  cloth  would  be  warm,  but  does 
not  look  as  well  as  more  expensive  cloth,  and  will  not  wear 
as  long  as  new  wool.  There  is  some  cotton  mixed  with  the 
wool  before  spinning,  therefore  it  is  difficult  to  delect. 


SILK 

Silk  is  frequently  known  as  the  fiber  of  luxury.  It  is  the 
most  expensive  to  cultivate,  the  most  beautiful  and  the 
strongest  fiber.  Since  it  is  the  most  expensive  fiber  to  buy, 
and  the  demand  for  it  is  so  great,  the  temptations  to  adul- 
terate are  also  naturally  very  great.  The  long,  strong,  lus- 


14 

troiis  silk  fiber  which  bleaches  and  dyes  beautifully  and  is 
fine  as  a  spider's  web,  is  not  to  be  duplicated.  The  best  grade 
or  "reeled  silk"  is  taken  from  the  cocoon  in  one  continuous 
thread  which  may  be  several  hundred  yards  long.  In  man- 
ufacturing reeled  silk  many  defective  cocoons  are  found  in 
which  the  fibers  are  not  perfect,  or  are  broken.  The  silk 
from  these  cocoons  may  be  treated  like  a  short  fiber  and 
spun  into  threads  varying  in  strength  according  to  the  length 
of  the  fibers.  This  so-called  "spun"  silk  has  not  the  high 
luster  nor  strength  of  "reeled"  silk,  but  is  often  used  as 
warp  with  reeled  silk  filling,  or  in  imitation  pongee,  and 
back  of  satins,  velvets  and  in  many  other  ways. 

In  olden  times  the  price  of  silk  was  much  greater  than 
now,  but  the  material  was  much  more  durable.  Silks  which 
have  been  laid  away  for  a  hundred  years  are  still  in  fairly 
good  condition.  Now  our  silks  are  much  cheaper,  but  the 
result  is  that  when  they  are  put  away,  even  for  a  few  months 
they  may  fall  into  bits,  and  their  wearing  quality  can  not 
be  compared  with  the  good  old  silks  of  long  ago.  The  reason 
for  this  change  is  not  hard  to  find.  The  cost  of  raw  silk  is 
about  thirty  times  that  of  raw  cotton  and  the  waste  at  least 
five  times  that  of  cotton.  The  manufacturer  must  make  up 
in  some  way  if  he  is  to  sell  silk  at  the  prices  demanded  by 
the  public. 

Silk  has  a  very  great  ability  to  absorb  dyes  and  metallic 
salts  without  apparently  changing  the  quality  of  the  mate- 
rial, and  since  dyes  and  metallic  salts  are  much  cheaper  than 
pure  silk,  the  manufacturer  makes  great  use  of  these  mate- 
rials. Loading  is  the  common  name  for  this  process  of  treat- 
ing silk  and  it  is  common  practice  to  add  thirty  percent  of 
foreign  material,  just  the  percent  lost  by  the  silk  when  the 
gum  is  removed,  while  it  is  possible  to  add  twro  hundred 
fifty  or  even  three  hundred  percent. 

When  we  buy  novelties  and  do  not  care  how  short  their 
life  is  to  be,  these  heavily  weighted  silks  answer  the  pur- 
pose very  well,  but  when  we  wish  for  durability  and  the 
silk  begins  to  crack  and  split  or  to  become  shiny  after  a  few 
wearings  we  realize  the  disadvantage  of  our  modern 
methods.  Practically  no  silk  can  be  found  on  the  market 


15 

entirely  free  from  loading,  but  there  is  a  great  difference 
in  the  amount  present. 

Burning  is  the  simplest  test  for  good  silk;  a  thread  of 
pure  silk  will  burn  slowly  leaving  as  it  burns  a  very  small 
amount  of  crisp  ash  in  a  ball  at  the  end  of  the  thread. 
Heavily  weighted  silk  burns  and  leaves  the  ash  in  the  form 
of  the  original  thread;  this  ash  of  course  drops  to  pieces 
readily.  Fig.  5A  shows  a  piece  of  taffeta  sold  for  one  dollar 
a  yard.  Fig.  5B  shows  the  result  of  burning  the  silk.  This 
ash,  left  in  the  shape  of  the  original  sample,  is  made  up  of 
metallic  salts,  dyestuffs,  etc.  A  very  small  percent  of  ash 
would  be  left  from  the  silk  itself. 

Another  method  of  adulterating  silk  is  with  cotton.  The 
fibers  are  not  spun  together  here  as  the  cotton  and  wool,  but 
the  threads  of  the  two  materials  are  woven  together.  In 
satins,  velvets  and  brocades  the  cotton  is  entirely  covered  by 
the  silk  threads  on  the  surface,  and  appears  as  the  back  of 
the  cloth.  In  cheap  silks  a  fine  cotton  thread  sometimes 
forms  either  warp  or  filling. 

Pongee  is  a  material  made  from  the  cocoon  of  the  un- 
cultivated silk  worm ;  rajah,  tussah  and  other  uneven,  coarse 
materials  are  from  the  same  source.  These  silks  are  very 
strong,  but  do  not  have  a  high  luster.  Mercerized  cotton 
looks  quite  silky  and  is  sometimes  mixed  with  these  silks, 
or  a  material  of  mercerized  cotton  and  spun  silk  may  be 
sold  for  pongee,  or  even  a  material  entirely  of  mercerized 
cotton. 

CONCLUSION 

To  sum  up,  the  adulterations  mosUlikely  to  be  found 
and  the  tests  for  them  are  as  follows  : 

METHOD   OP  ADULTERATION 

1.  By  combination.    Use  of  other  fibers  than  the  one 
indicated  by  the  name  of  the  material.    Example,  cotton  in 
woolens,  cotton  in  linens,  etc. 

2.  By  substitution.    Selling  one  fiber  under  the  name 
of  an  entirely  different  one.    Example,  mercerized  cotton 
sold  for  silk  or  linen. 


Hi 


a 


17 

3.  By  increasing  the  weight  of  a  material,    a.  Cottons 
and  linens  with  starch;  b,  silks  with  metallic  salts  and  dyes. 

4.  By   giving  a  finish  which  is  deceptive,    a.  Heavy 
pressing  or  calendering  an  ordinary  cotton  to  imitate  mer- 
cerizing; b,  finishing  cotton  to  look  like  linen;  c,  printing 
paste  dots  on  cotton  to  produce  the  effect  of  embroidered 
dotted  swiss. 

5.  By  use  of  made-over  yarns.    Example,  shoddy  in 
woolens,  also  addition  of  short  wool,  felted  in  surface. 

TESTS  FOR  ADULTERATION 

1.  Examination  of  cloth  to  see  if  all  threads  are  alike 
and  to  distinguish  kind  of  thread. 

2.  Examination  of  individual  threads. 

Cotton:  short  fibers,  ends  appear  fuzzy  in  thread. 
Wool :  short  fibers,  decidedly  kinky  and  stiff. 
Silk:  long  straight  fibers  with  luster;  if  spun  silk, 

fibers  short;   thread  looks  more  like   cotton; 

breaks  more  easily  than  reeled  silk. 
Linen:  strong  threads;  high  luster;  when  broken 

ends  very  uneven  and  straight. 

3.  Burning  tests:  a,  cotton  burns  quickly  with  flame; 

b,  wool  burns  slowly,  chars,  gives  off  odor  of  burnt  feathers ; 

c.  silk  burns  slowly,  leaves  small  crisp  ash,  and  when  weight- 
ed leaves  more  ash;  d,  linen,  similar  to  cotton. 

4.  Linen  if  without  much  starch,  becomes  translucent 
when  treated  with  olive  oil;  cotton  remains  opaque. 

5.  A  mixture  of  cotton  and  wool  when  wet,  wrinkles 
more  than  pure  wool. 

6.  A  careful  examination  of  the  finish  of  the  material. 
Observe  if  alike  on  both  sides,  if  the  apparent  beauty  of  the 
material  is  due  to  finish  or  to  good  quality  of  material. 

Finally,  the  best  grades  of  material  are  generally  what 
they  seem  to  be;  although  this  does  not  always  hold  true  in 
silks,  nor  in  materials  where  the  effect  is  more  important 
than  the  wearing  quality.  Expensive  broadcloths,  worsted 
suitings,  expensive  table  linens,  good  cottons,  do  not  pose 
for  more  than  their  true  worth.  It  is  when  one  turns  to 
novelties,  to  silks  and  to  inexpensive  materials  that  one  needs 


18 

to  be  most  vigilant.  Be  sure  the  inexpensive  is  not  cheap, 
unless  you  want  a  material,  cheap  in  wearing  quality  and 
appearance,  as  well  as  in  cost. 

OTHER  POINTS  IN  BUYING 

Aside  from  the  question  of  whether  the  buyer  is  getting 
the  kind  of  material  she  pays  for  as  to  character  of  the  fiber, 
there  are  other  things  to  be  considered  in  choosing  textile 
fabrics. 

The  weave  affects  the  appearance  and  often  the  wear- 
ing quality  of  cloth.  A  close  twill  weave  makes  a  firm,  dura- 
able  material,  wyhile  the  loose  basket  weave  gives  quite  a  dif- 
ferent effect  and  is  frequently  lacking  in  firmness.  The 
satin  or  sateen  weave  makes  a  beautiful  surface  especially 
in  linens  or  silks,  but  may  cover  up  defects  in  the  hidden 
threads.  Fancy  weaves  in  cotton  novelties,  in  shirt  waist 
materials  and  in  fancy  mulls,  etc.,  often  leave  loose  threads 
which  become  soiled  easily  and  may  not  be  as  attractive 
after  washing.  A  cloth  with  a  very  heavy  cross  thread  or 
filling,  and  a  very  fine  warp,  or  vice  versa,  may  split  because 
of  the  great  difference  in  the  strength  of  the  threads. 

Sometimes  figures  are  woven  in  such  a  way  that  when 
the  cloth  is  finished  each  figure  has  short  ends  of  thread. 
For  example,  in  weaving  madras  curtain  material,  the  fill- 
ing thread  which  makes  the  figure,  jumps  from  one  figure 
to  another,  and  after  the  material  leaves  the  loom  the  loose 
threads  are  cut  off  of  the  back  of  the  material.  Often 
these  short  pieces  wash  out  or  the  ends  become  rough  and 
fuzzy  looking. 

In  choosing  a  material  from  the  large  variety  on  the 
market  the  first  thing  to  be  determined  is  the  use  to  which 
it  is  to  be  put,  then  determine  what  is  appropriate  to  that 
use.  The  cloth  which  is  suitable  for  a  street  suit  is  obvious- 
ly not  suited  to  the  party  gown,  neither  are  laces  of  dressy 
waists  appropriate  for  working  clothes.  Clothes  that  areto 
be  worn  constantly  need  to  be  of  material  that  will  stand 
frequent  cleaning.  In  materials  used  in  house  furnishing 
certain  ones  must  be  cleaned  often,  and  unless  one  can  af- 
ford to  pay  frequent  cleaner's  bills,  washable  materials  are 


19 

better  for  curtains,  bed-spreads,  table-covers,  etc.  The  cost 
is  the  next  point  to  be  considered,  and  that  must  necessarily 
be  determined  by  one's  purse.  It  is  not  always  economy, 
however,  to  buy  the  inexpensive  things,  for,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  inexpensive  articles  are  more  likely  to  be  the 
cheap  ones.  With  our  desire  for  continual  change,  our  love 
of  novelty  and  fad  we  have  become  very  extravagant.  So 
long  as  the  fashion  demands  new  garments  every  few  months 
and  women  attempt  to  follow  the  styles,  they  must  choose 
inexpensive  materials  unless  they  have  a  large  amount  of 
money,  and  care  nothing  for  wearing  quality.  In  the  end, 
however,  the  woman  who  buys  carefully,  makes  use  of  con- 
servative styles  which  do  not  change  every  few  months, 
and  chooses  handsome  material,  is  not  only  more  econom- 
ically, but  also  usually  better  dressed. 

The  hygienic  properties  of  materials  should  be  carefully 
considered.  Those  next  the  body  should  be  able  to  care  for 
the  perspiration  and  the  excretions  of  the  skin.  Woolen 
and  silk  are  best  suited  by  their  physical  structure  to  do  this, 
but  wool  is  too  wrarm  and  too  irritating  to  many  people, 
and  does  not  wash  well,  while  silk  is  too  expensive.  Many 
kinds  of  cotton  underwear  have  been  manufactured  which 
by  their  structure  aid  in  absorbing  moisture.  Underwear 
knitled  or  woven  with  meshes  containing  large  enclosed  air 
spaces  is  more  hygienic  than  closely  woven  cotton  gar- 
ments. The  air  spaces  in  the  mesh  material  are  non-con- 
ductors of  heat,  and  also  ventilators.  The  closely  woven 
garment  does  not  allow  a  change  of  air  next  the  skin  and 
becomes  clammy  when  moist.  Garments  which  come  in 
contact  with  the  outside  air  must  be  more  closely  woven  to 
keep  out  the  wind.  Two  layers  of  lighter  weight  material 
are  warmer  than  one  layer  of  thick  because  of  the  non- 
conducting air  between.  Heavy  clothes  are  bad  for  the  body 
because  of  the  extra  load  which  must  be  carried  about. 

Finally,  in  choosing  materials,  if  one  is  to  have  the 
greatest  pleasure  from  them  and  give  one's  friends  the 
greatest  pleasure,  color  and  design  are  very  important. 
Colors  should  be  suitable  to  the  use,  and  to  the  person 
wh'o  is  to  wear  the  material.  Bright  colors  make  one  con- 
spicuous, and  are  exciting;  dull  ugly  colors  are  depressing, 


while  soft  rich  colors  are  elegant,  becoming,  and  in  good 
taste. 

Designs  should  fit  the  place  in  which  they  are  to  be  used. 
Rugs  should  be  so  designed  (hat  they  serve  as  a  background 
to  the  furniture  of  the  room  as  well  as  add  richness  in  color 
and  some  variety.  Materials  which  are  to  hang  in  folds 
should  have  designs  which  do  not  depend  on  smoothness  of 
surface  in  order  that  they  may  be  effective.  For  clothing, 
designs  should  be  inconspicuous,  modest  stripes,  dots  and 
plaids  being  most  successful,  except  on  very  soft.ihin  ma- 
terials when  larger  and  less  conventional  designs  may  be 
used. 

To  be  an  intelligent  buyer  it  is  necessary  then  that  (he 
woman  knows  before  she  purchases  a  piece  of  clolh  just 
where  it  is  to  be  used,  just  what  she  can  afford  to  pay  for 
it,  what  she  should  be  able  to  get  for  that  amount  of  money 
and  then  be  able  to  tell  whether  the  piece  of  cloth  she  buys 
is  really  what  it  is  represenled  lo  be.  At  the  present  time 
the  rush  to  the  bargain  counter,  the  enormous  amounl  of 
cheap,  poor  material  manufactured,  and  the  great  waste  in 
dress,  all  go  to  prove  lhat  there  are  many  women  who  are 
not  intelligent  buyers. 

When  women  demand  a  belter  quality  of  materials  and 
refuse  to  buy  the  cheap  things,  the  manufacturers  will  cease 
to  produce  worlhless  things.  Perhaps  however, before  that 
day  arrives,  the  thoughtful  workers  of  the  land  will  have 
succeeded  in  passing  a  pure  textile  law,  which  shall  do  for 
our  cloth  what  the  pure  food  act  is  doing  for  our  food  sup- 
plies; then  the  honest  though  ignorant  buyer  will  be  pro- 
tected, but  it  will  still  be  her  part  to  demand  good,  artistic 
and  useful  materials. 


TS 


A     000512887 


.  •• 

111 


